Sea to Sky Community Services' (SCSS) dream of building a new downtown hub, complete with affordable housing, moved a step closer to reality this week.
Squamish Savings on Wednesday (May 29) donated $250,000 for the Centrepoint project, the first big donation to the campaign to fundraise $3 million for the office, community and affordable housing space that's planned at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Victoria Street.
The donation, announced as part of Squamish Savings' Celebrating Our Community event, comes from the institution's Legacy Fund that was created when it merged with Vancity in 2005. That fund was established to commemorate the rich 60-year history of the Squamish Credit Union and the loyalty of the many members who contributed to its success.
The Centrepoint project, being developed jointly with the Squamish United Church, was first announced to the community in October 2011. Since then, project proponents have been busy finalizing the building designs, securing zoning and setting up fundraising drives for the various components. The SSCS capital campaign, launched last fall, aims to raise some $3 million by late 2014, officials said. The total SSCS project cost projection is $8.2 million.
Squamish United Church donated the land for the project and is fundraising separately for its component, which includes a new church, officials said.
Every large fundraising campaign needs a big donation to help establish momentum, and the Squamish Savings donation fills the bill nicely, Centrepoint capital campaign co-chair Anne Carney said.
From the beginning, the work to create Centrepoint has been a community initiative. This wonderful donation from a community business really supports that, Carney said. We're very grateful for this legacy donation for a legacy project.
SSCS offers more than 40 programs serving some 4,000 people in the Sea to Sky Corridor each year. The Centrepoint facility would include community rooms, office space and affordable housing and would reduce SSCS's costs by bringing all of its programs under one roof, officials told The Chief in 2011.
Sameer Kajani, chair of the Squamish Savings Partners Board, said the institution is proud to support such an important community project.
We can only truly prosper as individuals when we are connected to a vibrant community and this initiative is a great example of how we can work together to build a strong, healthy community, he said.
